Thales and Aselsan have agreed to continue their collaboration on shipborne launchers for the Lightweight Multirole Missile. The Aselsan/Thales eight-round LMM launcher is pictured. Source: IHS/Patrick Allen

A man at Seoul railway station, South Korea, watches a TV news programme reporting that North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles on 2 March 2015. The missiles were fired into the sea as South Korea and the United States began annual joint military exercises. Source: PA

Key Points
GA-ASI and Sener have signed a teaming agreement to offer the Predator B/MQ-9 Reaper UAV to Spain
Spain has a long standing requirement for an optionally armed MALE ISR UAV
General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI) and Sener, a Spanish engineering company, have signed a

India announced a core defence budget of INR2.5 trillion (USD41.1 billion) for fiscal year 2015-16 on 28 February.
The figure is a 7.7%, or INR1.8 billion, increase over the initial 2014-15 budget announced by the previous Congress Party-led government in February 2014, or a 10.9% increase over the

India's Ministry of Defence (MoD) approved the purchase of 38 additional Pilatus PC-7 Mk II tandem-seat basic trainer aircraft for CHF230 million (INR14.88 billion) on 28 February.
These will supplement 75 PC-7s acquired by the Indian Air Force (IAF) in 2012 for USD1 billion to replace the locally

The Portuguese defence procurement agency (DGRDN) is considering buying the French Navy's landing platform dock (LPD) Siroco , the Portuguese Ministry of National Defence (MND) has told IHS Jane's .
However, no final decision has been made to buy the ship yet due to financial considerations. In

Airbus Helicopters is in discussion with defence companies in India about potential partnerships that could lead to the group's rotary-wing aircraft being constructed within the country, a regional executive has told IHS Jane's .
Rainer Farid, Airbus Helicopters' vice president of sales, India and

EVENT
Andorra's General Election on 1 March granted a sharply reduced overall majority to the incumbent centre-right party, Democrats for Andorra.
The party won 15 of the 28 seats, losing five compared to the landslide victory it achieved in 2011. Overall, it won 37% of the vote, coming first in

The UK Royal Navy (RN) has graduated its first operational crews to be trained on the AgustaWestland AW159 Lynx Wildcat HMA.2 helicopter, the service announced on 2 March.
Eleven pilots and seven aircrew from 847 Naval Air Squadron (NAS) and the Royal Air Force's (RAF's) 652 Squadron based at Royal

Key Points
Aselsan and Thales have signed a further agreement for joint development of shipborne launcher systems for the Thales Lightweight Multirole Missile (LMM)
The agreement covers continued development of four- and eight-round LMM Missile Launching System variants
Aselsan and Thales UK's

Key Points
US Navy Office of Naval Research's Mission Planning Application is part of the Advanced Processing Build programme for submarines
ONR hopes to demonstrate the software during a one-year demonstration on board the DDG 51 cruiser USS Mobile Bay, beginning in 2015
The US Navy (USN) Office

The United States will have to spend USD348 billion on nuclear weapons modernisation over the next 10 years if it wants to maintain a triad of nuclear-capable intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), submarines, and bomber aircraft, according to a 22 January report from the Congressional Budget

Key Points
The likelihood of an outbreak of conflict during the exercises remains low as both sides have a clear interest in preventing hostilities.
However, North Korea is likely to engage in a range of military actions, including further missile and rocket launches, aimed at demonstrating its

Europe will be "in deep trouble" if it continues to rely only on soft power, given the threats it now faces from the east and south, according to the Belgian commander of the five-nation Eurocorps headquarters.
Despite the troubles in Ukraine and Russia's growing aggression, the greater

Key Points
A new US policy could facilitate military UAV exports to more countries
The policy is the latest in a series of efforts to "modernise and reform" US export controls for the aerospace and defence industry
The Obama administration on 17 February unveiled a new policy that could

Key Points
A strategic Islamist Tuareg leader and kidnap kingpin, Iyad ag Ghaly, has reportedly returned to northern Mali after an absence of almost two years.
The multiplicity of actors in northern Mali makes a binding peace agreement elusive, which poses a high risk of intermittent fighting

The United Arab Emirates' International Golden Group (IGG) has acquired Finnish rigid inflatable boat (RIB) manufacturer Boomeranger Boats, it was announced on 25 February.
The value of the deal was not disclosed. However, Boomeranger's parent company Revenio Group revealed that the disposal would